Month: October 2015

An employee who suffered from back and shoulder pain after changing the sign on a DART has settled his claim against Irish Rail in an out-of-court agreement.

In February 2012, Padraic Reddin of Donaghmede, Dublin, was working as an electrician for Irish Rail. As a part of his job, he was assigned the task of changing a front destination school on a DART train. As he was lifting the scroll, preparing it to be fitted, he felt a sharp pain across his shoulders and upper abdomen. He ceased working and rested before resuming his job later that day.

However, Padraic’s pain did not stop, and started to interfere with his everyday activities. He suffered difficulty sleeping, and at one stage he felt discomfort in his shoulder while he was making a cup of tea. In spite of visiting his GP for treatment of the pain, his troubles continued for several months.

Padraic reported his injury to one of his superiors. However, as it had been two weeks since the accident when Padraic finally reported the injury, the superior refused to complete an accident report form.

Padraic sought legal counsel, and made a claim against Iarnrod Éireann for a shoulder injury and applied to the Injuries Board for assessment of his claim. The defendants refused to consent to this assessment, causing the Injuries Board to issue Padraic with authorisation to pursue his claim for compensation through the court system.

Earlier this week, the hearing to establish liability for Padraic’s injuries took place at the Circuit Civil Court by Mr Jusitce Raymond Groarke. At the hearing, the judge was informed that the scroll which Padraic was carrying weighed approximately 10kg, and was to be lifted 2 metres above the ground.

The plaintiffs argued that the scroll should have been lifted by two employees to avoid any possible risk of injuries. Before any further evidence could be presented to the judge, the parties requested a brief adjournment. When the court met again, Judge Groarke was informed that the claim against the travel company for a workplace injury had been settled for an undisclosed amount. The case was struck from court records.